Businesses can measure performance of the business as a whole or of an individual business unit within the business by comparing actual performance to one or more performance benchmarks. The performance benchmarks can include budgets or schedules that may be created for various aspects of the business or business unit. The budgets or schedules may represent targets, goals, or minimally acceptable levels of production, productivity, efficiency, or profitability, for example. The budgets or schedules may also correspond to a time period, such as a fiscal year or fiscal quarter, to a project like a development effort or business initiative, or to an employee, a team, or a department. To measure performance, the budgets or schedules, which may represent planned performance, can be compared to the actual performance of the business or business unit over the same period.
Businesses also frequently use computer-implemented software applications for managing and performing tasks related to the day-to-day operation of the business. The software applications may be used to receive or generate data or information that may be stored in electronic storage devices. Because this data relates to operations performed in the course of business, the data may be useful in assessing actual performance of the business, whether for a current period or an historical period.